What are The Veterinary Leadership Awards?
Annual Awards recognising exceptional achievements in leadership in the veterinary profession at a national level.
Why this Award Exists.
Enjoyable places of work with an engaged team doing meaningful work, don’t just happen. Although we all recognise the ubiquitous nature of leadership in practice, it starts at the top. It starts with a talented senior leadership team that is firmly committed to the development of an entire team which will ultimately combine to execute the practice strategy.
Success demands a lot from these senior leaders.
They make difficult “people and financial” decisions every day. They take risks on capital expenditure, are constantly under scrutiny for their decision making (both from a medical licensing standpoint as well as their team) and they have the greatest impact on the wellbeing of their team – and this often weighs heavily on them.
Australia’s Best Led Practice Award celebrates these people; and for many senior leaders, it’s the first time that they’ll get the chance to be recognised and truly reflect on the hard work and dedication that is synonymous with a great team.
Paul Ainsworth – Lincoln Institute Founder June 2022
This Awards Night is proudly sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Australia and the Lincoln Institute.
All entrants for the award underwent a comprehensive full-practice Leadership Audit performed by Lincoln Institute which examined team and owner/manager review of achievements across 18 key leadership criteria.
Entrants were additionally required to provide a written submission, centred around leadership accomplishments in areas such as culture, well-being, financial performance, team and business development, recognition and feedback …to name a few.
Finalists, Runner-up and Winner were selected on the basis of Audit Scores, Assessment of written submission, and finally a rigorous panel review by leadership experts.
Why are these awards important?
- One of the biggest opportunities identified by the Veterinary Shortage Steering Committee investigations into attrition of veterinarians from general practice was ensuring better leadership in the veterinary industry at a practice level.
- These Veterinary Leadership Awards have been specifically designed to recognise veterinary practices and veterinary team members demonstrating exceptional leadership across Australia.
- The broader aim for these awards is to raise the leadership bar for the veterinary industry and to inspire a modern and innovative approach to the way veterinary practices lead their people.
- Lincoln Institute and Boehringer Ingelheim are passionate about the importance of great leadership and are proud to be taking affirmative action in one of the critical areas identified as key to addressing the industry challenge of veterinary shortages.
Where and when do they occur?
- Held on the first night of Lincoln Institute’s Annual 3-day Omega Summit
- The 2022 Awards were held on 9th June 2022 at The Sheraton Grand Mirage, Gold Coast.
Australia’s Best Led Practice Award Winners 2022
The winner of Australia’s best Led Practice 2022 is a story of kindness.
Over the last 2 years, the leadership has maintained a singular focus on the wellbeing of their team. They have done this by firstly seeking to understand the reality of every individual’s circumstances and focusing on communication by way of ensuring that team members are relying on the right source of information on which to base decisions as well as embracing the entire team in decisions that required a high degree of distributed accountability.
Whilst under significant pressure, the leadership maintained its focus and invested heavily in training to provide more intrinsic incentives. For example, despite capacity constraints associated with the last two years, they invested in teaching their team to better manage their time and where initiatives weren’t working, they showed the courage to rethink their many decisions in a collaborative and engaging way.
Their good reputation as an employer precedes them with little difficulty in hiring new vets and nurses as they maintain solid growth.
The senior leadership team are a shining example, of how humility and will coupled with a willingness to accept change and be open to process improvement and importantly, implementation is a potent combination for success.
This year’s winner of Australia’s Best Led Practice Award goes to Dr Angus Brown, Stephen Terrace Veterinary Clinic
Angus received a Lincoln Training Scholarship valued at $4,500 Congratulations to Angus
The 2022 Runner-Up
This year’s Runner Up for the Best Led Practice Award embodies humility and strength of character.
Not only did their survey score rate as one of the highest of all finalists, the precise execution of basic leadership principles permeate everything that they do.
The leadership recognised the need to surround themselves with both their team and external support to ensure that each decision they made was well considered and timely. Most importantly,
they created meaning from adversity in their early years as a practice and have never lost sight of their purpose – leading to a strong theme of psychological safety, respect and care for each other.
It’s not often that I’m lost for words – perhaps, as a nod to their natural leadership ability, I could say that if I was ever to invest in a practice, this leadership team would be a very safe bet.
They are to be applauded for being awarded the Runner Up to Australia’s Best Led Practice for 2022
The award for runner up to Australia’s Best Led Practice Award goes to Amy Regis & Katrina Bulloch, West Blacktown Veterinary Clinic.
Amy and Katrina received a training scholarship with Lincoln Institute valued at $2,600 Congratulations to Amy and Katrina
2022 Highly Commended Finalist
Faye Goodyear
Toowong Orthodondics
Australia’s Best Led Practice Awards Hall of Fame
The 2021 Winners:
The winner of Australia’s best Led Practice is a story of true grit and determination. Lincoln’s association with them started back in 2014 and from the outset, the leadership has shone a spotlight on what it means to dig deep in the face of significant head winds and how to be truly humble in good times.
By our calculations, this practice has achieved a touch over 55% annual compound growth in profitability every year for the last 7 years.
A measure of their humility is that they wouldn’t even know this.
From the can of CHUM dogfood that sits on the practice owner’s desk; a reminder of what might follow a break down in personal accountability to a practice wallpapered in Lincoln leadership models, reminding every team member that we can never stop learning, this practice lives and breathes a growth mindset.
The senior leadership team are a shining example, of how a growth mindset coupled with a willingness to be vulnerable and open to process improvement and importantly, implementation is a potent combination for success.
Dr Mike Woodham (Practice Owner) & Greg Goldsworthy (Practice Manager)
Sugarland Animal Hospital – Bundaburg QLD
Why do you think you were selected for this award?
Even though we don’t always get it right, we focus on consistent action and improvements over time (the compound effect) until we achieve our results.
Utilizing the lessons and leadership skills daily as taught through the Lincoln Institute has been a vital element to our success.
The 2021 Runner-Up:
The Runner-Up for Australia’s Best Led Practice is a force of nature.
The leadership is infectious with its creativity and willingness to go to any length to ensure that the team embraces everything that life has to offer, including a stint in the [mountains] complete with working compass (but no operator) and a map that had to be sacrificed as fuel to keep the team alive in the treacherously cold conditions.
The charismatic, and often highly juvenile behaviour of the leader belies a potent intellect and high degree of humility that has underpinned a meteoric rise in the practice’s performance. The high performance of this practice in all areas of patient advocacy, team engagement and entrepreneurship come down to an ethos of the good leader is the one people revere, the great leader is the one whom people say ‘we did it ourselves’.
This practice owner leaves every place a better place and every person, a better person. In leadership parlance, he’s an inspiration.
Dr Sam Jones (Practice Owner)
My Local Vet – Brisbane QLD
Why do you think you were selected for this award?
Because I have embraced and implemented Lincoln’s leadership principles in order to drive results in my practice and enrich the lives of those around me.
2021 Highly Commended Finalists:
- Noah’s Ark Vet Services, Medowie NSW – Victoria Ireland
- Greenvale Animal Hospital, VIC – Sam Rooke
- Stephen Terrace Vet Clinic, Adelaide SA – Angus Brown
- Ripley Vet Hospital, QLD – Andrew & Sarah Hemming
- Toowong Orthodondics, QLD – Faye Goodyear
2019 Winner:
Pets And Their People – Adelaide South Australia
Practice Group Owners – Dr Alan Dalgarno & Dr Vron Wah-Day
(Received award as well as a Lincoln scholarship worth $4000)
2019 Runner-Up:
Gawler Animal Hospital – South Australia
Practice Owners – Dr Steve Crouch & Dr Dave McPhail
(Received award as well as a Lincoln scholarship worth $2600)
2019 Highly Commended Finalists:
- Mulberry Lane Vet Hospital – Orange NSW – Practice Owner – Dr Judith Carney
- Wangaratta Veterinary Clinic – VIC – Practice Owners – Drs Adam & Jo Willians
- Ripley Veterinary Hospital – Ipswich QLD – Practice Owners – Dr Andrew Hemming Sarah Hemming
2018 Winner
The winner of Lincoln’s Inaugural Best led practice award was a unanimous decision by the selection panel of judges.
This practice owner well and truly surpassed the required 75% on the leadership audit. In fact, well above 80% on both their overall score and congruency score.
In addition to this the winner has displayed a consistent leadership style displaying high levels of self-awareness and self-regulation operating in the Q4 challenge and involve quadrant – making things happen with a high regard for the team.
Our winner has demonstrated an active desire to improve through seeking feedback, through embracing regular 360-degree reviews – an active display of humility and venerability
The other key attribute of an effective leader is will.
This practice owners determined stance of getting the wrong people off their bus has been exemplary – even as some fairly unbelievable situations unfolded they did not waver in their determination to create a high performing team based on a foundation happiness and positivity with having only the right people on their bus
When one of our judges visited this practice, they were impressed with the beauty of not only the facility but even more so by the energy of the people. A truly unique practice that is a total reflection of its leader
Their practice is an ASAV practice of excellence and is also providing a level of financial return worthy of the winner of Australia’s Best Led Practice…
Dr Mike Mesley
Snowy Vets Comma & Jindabyne NSW